


Things That Need Saying

by WordsInTimeAndSpace



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:50:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7000246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsInTimeAndSpace/pseuds/WordsInTimeAndSpace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While they are stuck in the vortex for a while, Rose decides to take advantage of being in a timeship to celebrate Christmas a second time in a year. After all, she has a special present for the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things That Need Saying

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by madabouttennant on tumblr, who won this fic in my giveaway.

The Doctor frowned at the wires above his head. The sonic screwdriver whirred as he poked at bits and pieces, ignoring the annoyed groan of the TARDIS.

“I'm trying to help, you know,” he complained. Darkness engulfed him for a second as the ship flickered the lights in protest and the Doctor rolled his eyes. “I know that you can fix this yourself with a bit of rest, but it'll be quicker if you let me give you a hand.”

“I don't think she agrees with you,” Rose said from above the grating, making him jump in surprise. Over the ships insistent protests as he tried to tinker with the machinery he hadn't heard her come into the console room.

“Stubborn old thing,” the Doctor muttered under his breath. He sighed, finally deciding to give up, and rubbed his hands over his arms against the chill in the room. “You could at least turn the heating back to normal levels.”

Since they crashed earlier that day the TARDIS was running on low energy, leaving her rooms dark and cold while she tried to fix herself. They hadn't even reached their destination and were drifting through the vortex instead. And by the looks of it, that was exactly where they would stay for the next couple of days until the TARDIS was better.

The Doctor heaved himself on top of the grating and scrambled to his feet. Rose leaned against the console, watching him with an amused smile on her lips. Illuminated by the blue light of the central column, the Doctor had to squint at her as he took in her appearance. He chuckled. Rose was dressed in a pair of very tight jeans and a thick, oversized jumper with the picture of a reindeer on the chest.

“I know it's a bit chilly, but... a Christmas jumper, Rose? Really?” he asked in amusement.

Rose nodded in all seriousness.

“Yes. Since we'll be stuck here for a couple of days and we don't have anything else to do, I've decided that it's Christmas,” she said.

The Doctor stared at her for a second, raising his left eyebrow.

“It's September, not December,” he pointed out. “In your timeline. Still 129 days to go until Christmas.”

“You're the one who always insists that time is relative!” Rose protested, crossing her arms over her chest. “I stumbled over a few bottles of eggnog while I was looking for candles and thought it would be a fun thing to do. What good is a time machine if you can't celebrate Christmas twice a year?”

The Doctor rubbed his neck. He couldn't win against her reasoning, not when he liked to point out that time didn't really exist on the TARDIS whenever Rose complained that he woke her too early. And if he was honest, he actually liked her idea. Christmas with Rose, he had learned the last time only a few months ago, was definitely more than enjoyable, although he never admitted it out loud. It was far too domestic.

“All right,” the Doctor finally said with a sigh. “Let's do this.”

Rose grinned, bright and triumphant. She knew exactly that he didn't mind this one bit.

~~~

Celebrating Christmas on a timeship running on low energy levels actually turned out to be more difficult than they both expected. The galley couldn't provide a fancy dinner at that moment, much less a turkey. While the Doctor was sure he had an entire room filled with Christmas crackers somewhere on the ship, it was nowhere to be found. The TARDIS had hidden most of the rooms that weren't strictly necessary, and besides the Christmas cracker room that also included the garden, the only place where they could've gotten a proper tree while they were still in the vortex. Rose did find some fairy lights in the back of her closet, but the only thing she could decorate with it were the shelves in the library surrounding the couch and the fireplace. That was where the two of them finally curled up for the night. Sweets out of rich, dark chocolate that they picked up on their last trip as well as the eggnog provided the only bit of Christmas spirit.

But for the Doctor, it was enough. With Rose sitting beside him, her feet tucked underneath her, he had everything he wanted. After two glasses of eggnog Rose had found the courage to shift closer to him, pretending to be cold, and he certainly wasn't going to point out that he knew it wasn't true. Not when Rose was still cuddled close against his side, her head against his shoulder and her hand on his thigh. He was sure Rose was affected by the alcohol, making her more tactile and maybe a little braver to push his boundaries. Under other circumstances he might have felt guilty for taking advantage of her like this, taking pleasure from this rare form of intimacy, but for now the alcohol coursing through his veins silenced any doubts.

By now they were both past the point of being only a little tipsy. Dizziness clouded his senses, but he felt warm and giddy, the sort of drunk that made the world a little lighter. With the way Rose was giggling against his chest as she told the story how she'd burned the turkey a few years back, he suspected she was feeling the same. He'd lost count of how many glasses she'd had, and the thought unsettled him a little, but as long as Rose was happy and laughing he decided not to worry about her alcohol intake. 

“And that's exactly why I don't let you cook without any supervision,” the Doctor teased. Rose poked a finger into his side, making him jump.

“Oi! As if you're any better, Mister 'of course it's a good idea to make the toaster sonic Rose',” she said and the Doctor winced at the memory.

“At least I don't put salt in my tea.”

“That was one time!” Rose protested, colour rising in her cheeks. “And it was only because you were distracting me.”

“I didn't! It's not my fault you're barely thinking straight until you had your first cuppa in the morning.” He gave her a teasing grin and Rose scowled at him, the sparkle in her eyes telling him that she wasn't really serious about it.

“Play nice, or there won't be any presents tomorrow,” she said with determination.

That made the Doctor sit up straighter. He hadn't thought about this until now.

“You have a present for me?” he asked, his voice a pitch higher than usual. “But Rose, I'm not prepared for our impromptu Christmas! I don't have anything for you.”

To his surprise, Rose moved out of his embrace. He wanted to pull her back, immediately missing her warmth, but the expression on her face made him stop. She bit her lip as her gaze flickered over the room, looking nervous and a little bit embarrassed.

“Rose?” he prompted and she turned to look at him, taking a deep breath. 

“It's nothing special,” she said quickly, wringing her hands in her lap. “And it's maybe a little bit silly. I don't know if you'll like it.”

“Oh, I'm sure that I'll love it,” the Doctor said in all seriousness. He gave her an encouraging smile that Rose returned a bit more reluctantly. “I bet it's brilliant! Oh, I can't wait to see what it is!”

“You're gonna have to wait until tomorrow morning,” Rose said, giving him a tongue-touched smile that was terribly distracting in his current state of drunkenness. With a bit of effort, the Doctor tore his gaze away from her lips to focus on her eyes. He took a deep breath.

“First, as you kindly pointed out earlier, this is a time machine drifting through the vortex,” the Doctor started. “Mornings are a bit relative. And second, there are places in the world where Christmas presents are generally exchanged on Christmas eve. Just because you Brits do it on Christmas day doesn't mean we have to follow these customs. In fact, as it's my duty as your traveling companion to introduce you to all kinds of new cultures, I suggest we bring forward the presents and just exchange them now.” 

The last sentence of his speech was accompanied by Rose's laughter, but she calmed down when he finished, wiping at her eyes.

“All right, okay,” she said, still grinning. “I'll get it if you stop babbling like that.”

Rose jumped to her feet before he could answer, staggering a little as she made her way to the door. The Doctor wasn't sure if it was due to the alcohol she'd consumed or if the darkness in the room was to blame. He ran a hand over his face and let out a long breath. Maybe they were both a bit more drunk than they realized. He could metabolize the alcohol in his blood stream whenever he wanted to, but for now he still enjoyed the feeling.

It wasn't long until Rose came back, a flat, rectangular package in her hands.

The Doctor grinned, both excitement and alcohol making him feel a little jittery. Rose laughed at his obvious exhilaration as he bounced up and down on the couch, but her smile was a little strained. She was still nervous about this, and it only fostered the Doctor's curiosity.

“Um-” Rose started as she sat down next to him. She was searching for the right words for a second, until she changed her mind and pressed the package into his hands without further ado.

The Doctor ran his fingers over the paper, feeling a smooth surface underneath it and a frame at the edges. A picture? His curiosity eventually outweighed any patience and he ripped the paper away.

His breath caught in his throat as he turned the picture around and took in the framed drawing. He recognized the image, at least parts of it, and it took him a moment to realize that Rose had combined two photographs in the picture. She had drawn herself in the middle and him beside her, her head resting against his shoulder and both with matching grins on their face. It was a photograph they took last Christmas, and Rose had made it come to life with bold lines and bright colours on the canvas. On the left side, depictured from the second photograph, was his Ninth self. He had an arm curled around Rose, looking at them out of icy blue eyes with a gentle smile on his lips.

For a second the Doctor was speechless. It took him long enough to find the right words to voice his gratitude that Rose started to speak instead.

“It's... I just realized that I never told you,” she started, her voice wavering a little. “That I know you're the same man. I said all these horrible things to you right after you regenerated, that you're not the Doctor and all that, and I never took them back. Not really.”

With difficulty, the Doctor tore his gaze away from the picture to meet her eyes. Rose was watching him with a nervous smile on her lips, carefully studying his reaction.

“But I know. I know that you're still the Doctor. The same man who took my hand all this time ago and told me to run. And I...” She stopped, struggling for a second. “I just need you to know that. That's why I wanted to paint this.”

“Oh, Rose,” the Doctor finally breathed out in awe. He gently placed the picture aside to pull her into his arms. Rose's tense body relaxed as soon as he had wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Rose let out a relieved hum. “Thank you. Of course I know.”

“I know,” Rose said, cuddling closer to him. “I mean, I know that you know. But I never said, did I? And some things just need saying.” 

Her words left the Doctor in dumbfounded silence for a moment. Oblivious that she hit a sore spot, Rose rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. There was no way she couldn't hear his hearts racing in his chest.

Rose was right, he didn't doubt that. Some things did need saying. But at the same time, he was aware that he never did, no matter how often he held the words at the tip of his tongue. So far he had always submitted to the terror he felt when he thought about voicing his emotions towards her, hoping that she knew. But in that moment, his point of view suddenly shifted. Her kind words made his affection for her grow impossibly larger, pulsing warm in his chest until he was sure it would spill over any second. With doubts and fear and rational thinking dulled by the alcohol coursing through his veins, the next words tumbled over his lips before he could remember why he shouldn't say them out loud.

“I love you,” he whispered and Rose went rigid in his arms.

She abruptly pulled back, enough to see his face, and blinked at him in confusion. Not sure if she'd heard him right. The Doctor panicked for a second.

“Back on Krop Tor,” he rushed to explain, “when I was about to jump into the pit, I wanted Ida to tell you. But I didn't say it, because I thought you knew. But I know you're right. Some things do need saying, because what if you don't? So I'm gonna say it. Rose Tyler, I love you.”

Rose broke out into a smile, raising a hand to run it through his hair at the back of his head. “You're so daft,” she said. “Of course I know.” And with that, she crossed the distance between them to press her lips to his.

His mind still clouded and slow to catch up, the Doctor needed a moment to process what was happening. For a few glorious seconds the only thing his brain registered were Rose's lips on his, warm and wet and tasting like her, moving in slow, unhurried motions that made him groan in the back of his throat. But then Rose opened her mouth, coaxing him to respond, and the sensation of her tongue trailing over his bottom lip finally kicked him into action.

He parted his lips with a moan, inviting her in as he cradled her face in his hands to pull her closer. Rose readily accepted the invitation and deepened the kiss. Soon his head was swimming with pleasure and his rapidly growing arousal, his mind clouded by the delicious caresses and bold touches that grew more heated with every passing second. He wasn't sure how, but Rose was sitting in his lap by now, pressing her hips down on his erection and burying her fingers in his hair. With difficulty, the Doctor finally tore his lips away from hers, breathing hard. 

Rose buried her head in the crook of his neck as she embraced him. Her hot breath against his skin made the Doctor shiver. Despite the urgency of their kiss, the Doctor would have been content to hold her in his arms like this for the rest of his lives.

“I love you too,” Rose finally said and the Doctor laughed.

“Yes, I gathered,” he said, humour in his voice, and Rose giggled against him. She pressed a kiss to his skin, and another one, and before the Doctor registered what she was doing she was kissing down his neck, popping open one button of his shirt after another. She ground her hips down to his, making him gasp at the friction. But the Doctor still felt as if his senses were dulled. In a matter of seconds, he metabolised the alcohol in his bloodstream. He let out a long breath as his senses sharpened and overwhelmed him for a moment.

Rose's arousal reached his nose, letting him know exactly how much she wanted him. Her lips were warm and wet against his neck and her fingers brushed over the bits of skin on his chest she exposed as she worked on his shirt. The sight and the feeling of her hips bucking down on him left him breathless and dizzy. And he could still taste her on her tongue, a sweet flavour that was entirely her mingled with the hormones in her blood stream and the alcohol she'd consumed. Trying hard not to get distracted by Rose's caresses he smacked his tongue and analysed the composition for a second. He froze.

“Rose,” he gasped as she nipped on his skin as she brushed the shirt of his shoulders. She ran her hands down his bare chest until she reached the waistband of his trousers. Lost in pleasure, the Doctor bucked his hips, looking for friction that Rose was more than happy to provide. She palmed his erection through his trousers and his eyes rolled back. But no, this wasn't right. Not like this.

“Rose, love, slow down,” he managed to say as Rose fumbled with the button of his trousers. She kissed her way down his chest, and the Doctor knew his resolve would crumble any second if she continued to touch him like this. In a split second, he grabbed her waist to flip them over, until Rose was on her back and he was hovering above her. Undisturbed by this Rose popped open the button of his trousers and the Doctor groaned and grabbed her wrists, pinning them down above her head. But instead of being discouraged, Rose's eyes darkened as he restrained her and a fresh wave of arousal hit his nostrils. It was nearly his undoing.

The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut and rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard as he tried to regain some self control.

Rose whimpered underneath him and bucked her hips, but when he still didn't move after a few seconds she stilled as well.

“Doctor?” she prompted, her voice hoarse.

“Rose, as much as I want you, I... I can't do this when you're drunk. Not the first time,” the Doctor said.

“Aren't you drunk too?”

“Metabolised it by now.”

Rose let out a whine. “Cheater,” she said and the Doctor chuckled. He pecked her lips and pushed himself up, just enough to see her face.

“I won't change my mind when I'm sober,” Rose said, suddenly serious.

The Doctor grinned down at her. “I know. But I want to do things to you that require you to be in tip-top shape.”

“Is that a promise, Doctor?” Rose asked in a voice so low and sultry that the Doctor was once again tempted to take her right there and then. The smug smile on her lips left him with no doubts that she knew exactly what she was doing to him. But two could play this game.

“Yes, it is,” the Doctor growled, grazing his teeth against her neck. Rose gasped, a sound that made his hearts swell with pride, and struggled against his grip on her wrists. She let out a needy whimper when he didn't budge.

“Want you to touch me,” she moaned.

The Doctor peppered kisses along her face. “A bit more patience,” he said. “Tomorrow. If you still want.”

“Course I will,” Rose said. She sighed when the Doctor finally released her wrists and combed her fingers into his hair. The Doctor hummed as he enjoyed her slow, unhurried motions against his scalp. 

“I didn't want to rush you,” Rose said quietly. “Sorry if I did.”

“You didn't,” the Doctor said, bumping her nose with his before he settled down beside her. He opened his arms and Rose didn't hesitate to curl into his side. 

“I didn't exactly mind, if you haven't noticed,” he said and Rose let out a relieved laugh. “Tomorrow we can rush things as much as you like.”

“I'll hold you to that,” Rose mumbled, suddenly sounding sleepy although he could still smell her arousal wavering through the air. But for now, they were both content to be in each others arms. After all, they had all the time in the world tomorrow while they were drifting through the vortex.


End file.
